Please don’t let us down again Wenger? A plea from Malawi
I have just received this Guest Post from Malawi, and I don’t think that Arsene Wenger understands how much his smallest decision affects people all over the world. This post may help us all to understand just that little bit more…..
WHY WE NEED A CENTRE BACK
by Dalitso Kuphanga, Lilongwe Malawi
I write from a small country in Africa called Malawi, that was once a British protectorate (I hope most of you understand what this means). This small country has a very rich football history and culture and most individuals follow the English Premier League much than the local league. In Malawi, people drink Arsenal, eat Chelsea and sleep Manchester United.
Ever since the transfer rumours of Andrei Arshavin, I have been an ardent follower of the JustArsenal.Com and thought that I would contribute a small article today;
Since the end of the last season Arsenal has been singing the same story of a centre-back to cement its defence in a bid to get at least one piece of silverware. The departure of William Gallas, Mikael Silvestre, Phillip Sanderos and Sol Campbell created a vacuum in what was already a shaky defence which was also affected by long and acute injuries. This situation left only Vermaelen who had since adopted well to the English Premier league and a number of rookies to cover up the goalkeeper against the threats of likes of Rooney and Drogba.
A new era seemed to dawn with the signing of Squillaci and Koscieny followed by the revival of Johan Djourou which seemed to have provided the enough numbers needed for the centre back position and this delighted most Arsenal supporters even those of us in the developing nations. However the injuries to squillaci and Vermaelen have again provided supporters with the fear of whether we will be capable of grabbing at least one cup this season.
The manager Arsène Wenger admits that signing a centre back on loan may be the “best solution”. Wenger has insisted that any acquisition would act as cover for Johan Djourou, Laurent Koscielny and Sebastien Squillaci so, he argues, a temporary move may be suitable.
“Basically that would be the best solution for us because what do you do with five centre backs?” he told Arsenal.com.
As much as I trust and have faith in the Manager, I strongly believe we need at least one additional centre back that has to join us on a permanent deal. It wouldn’t do us harm in having five centre backs because a good number of the Centre Backs we have are injured or injury prone.
With the rumours about Samba and Cahill almost dying, as supporters we are afraid and fear that we might end up with nothing again this season. That’s why I write that we need a centre-back at all costs!
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frend u dont understand football.sorry to say that but you dont.5 cb wont do any harm but who would want to come if he is not guarenteed a place.and supposedly cahill comes and he is played with djourou then what about kosc and what when verm is fit.suppose then verm and cahill play then and they remain fit for six months.(it of course happened last season with verm and gallas until gallas was injured).then what about djourou,kosc and squillaci.at least djourou and kosc would want to move as they are in their prime.plenty of big clubs would want them.so its not that easy.look at strikers situation.i bet if van persie is fit all season even chamakh would want to move.but atleast that is not problm now
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First thing first mr wenger,just few days to d end of d transfer window n no body is coming,mr wenger pls do us a favour by signing a defender who is capable 4 replacement in case of injury
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Dalitso Kuphanga, as much as I share your aspirations, grief, pain and anguish. However, when it comes to fans wish and desire, our manager Arsene Wenger does not listen to anyone. So. I,m afraid you are talking to a STEEL WALL.
Keep the faith, we might win “a” trophy.
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Hope Le Boss heard it sound and clear. Stop being stingy Le Boss! U’ve got no idea the number of hearts u shut down when u let us down right here in BIG GH.
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Dalisto i think what u have said is true but Wenger samamva(he does not listen) keep it up bro!!!
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Totaly agreed brothr.5 centr backs cn do caus whn thy r al fit,dourh cn move in midfld asta defncv mid fildr n hlp song.denilsn is nt good enough n should b mvd on.acpt tht wengr
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I love Arsenal so much that everytime Wenger talks about how stable our defence its like he s going through my flesh with a razor blade. Our Defence has always been our downfall end of Adams/Keown/Campbell era. we are really shaky and everyone can see that except “His truely Mr Manager”. Come on Arsene just buy a defender and atleast an experienced goalkeeper. Arent u tired of breaking peoples hearts out there..
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In Nigeria where I come from football is everything when it comes to entertainment and English premier league is number when it comes to supporting. Despite the fact that Nigeria is a footballing nation yet the European football is regarded more than the local league. This make the youth very much concern about their darling teams in Europe. I am anArsenal support since birth but hosnestly I am very much worried about the way Mr. arsene Wenger do his team selection when it comes to playing low rated side. Most of the matches we draw or even loss( like the Ipswitch first league) are the negligence of selection and these matches can be use to send a signal of warning to our rivals by trashing the minors with a long margin. Please Mr. weenier rescue our dignity tonight and use a more competitive team to face this most win match.
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buy any 1, at least they’d be better then sum we hav.
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very simple answer to problem. thomas playes lb until traore or gibbs is ready to start. clichy sol to madrid plus a lot of money for benzema. bener is sold. koc, cahil, and djouro rotate at cb
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We will win league cup and fa cup with new defender or not. Still have shots at premier league and champions league. Things cups be a lot worse you could be a spud!
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Hope we win something this season, i dont want to waste my time pleading for what will not be done, i know arsane very well. Lets just support our team today, gunners woyee!!
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we do not need another defender, the Squid will be back on Sunday…I’m from Kenya, here we drink, sleep, dream and eat Arsenal….
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Good post, i agree we desperately need a new centre back becasue like it or not djourou is injury prone and we don’t know if vermalean may have set backs or kosc and squid will pick up red card. Kosc, verminator and djourou are good young centre backs and wenger doesn;t want to ruin their development, however i believe there is a solution. A loan would be economically viable, to a decent player who isn’t getting games at his club. Another alternative would be to get a versatile player who can play CB or DM but this might hinder wilsheres progress who plays holding role with song. which brings to my final suggestion , which is for wenger to find a good young CB to replace nordveidt, because i am sure if nordveidt didn’t leave he would have played some games this season mainy cup games. however he was impatient. whatever happens i hope wenger buys. C’MON U GUNNERS!!
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justarsenal, please don’t let us down again by publishing more rubbish. oh you just did.
(Thats harsh! Every Gooner has a right to be heard wherever they are from….. even you. If YOU have something to say about Arsenal I would give you the chance to be heard as well —- ADMIN)
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I too come from Kenya. I confirm Maxwell’s eat and drinking and sleeping Arsenal… A simple thing Wenger must do is that he can get rid of Schillachi and bring in a proper CB. We all know that we stop cheering and bite our fingers for 90Mins when a team is named and it is Koscienly and Schillachi in the line up. They generally head butt each other, score in their own net and get dominated by the opposition. Koscienly has formed a great patnership with Djourou but Schillachi is yet to find a defense partner that makes him tick. Some decisions just MUST BE TAKEN. Djourou is injury prone and even Wenger knows he cannot pressure him for too many game so soon. Gary Cahill is 26, He has 3 – years and can be used for the new rotation policy Wenger has started implementing so no, he will not be killing the Djourou – Koscienly partnership. In fact he will be enhancing it’s development as it will keep both players injury free. Since my first choice, Neven Subotic has ruled out a move to Emirates this winter, I think Cahill can be brought in. Despite Wenger preferring a loan move I would suggest Schillachi be sold if Wenger fears having 5 CBs.
Take the case of our Scoring from chances ratio. I looked at the Statistics and the one that we seem not to be looking closely at, yet it keeps happening is the ratio of Goal opportunity creation versus goal opportunities created converted. Man United had
8-9 shots on goals against Birmingham and scored 5 while Arsenal had 16 shots on goal and got 3. It continues to scream loudly in every match and thats why I believe it’s time Bendtner was sold and a new striker to give Challenge to RvP and Chamakh brought in. Getting rid of Bendtner would open the room to bring in the new striker. ( Falcao, Llorient, Pappis Cisse, or Barrios would be exciting prospects). Send Vela on Loan, Recall Watt, he seems more blessed with the attitude to deliver.
Gibbs and Clitchy, same team for Leeds….Is Wenger looking for a new Gilberto-Viera in Clitchy? Is Denilson on his way out especially after the outburst. May be Miguel will be promoted to back up Gibbs (still fearful that he is capable of a season in ER) and we still got Eboue). Clitchy can certainly do the role. He has improved over the years and the 23 year old is more consistent, more of a leader, more composed and can start up attacks, can pass decently and most importantly fall very deep to defend. On that role any day I’d pick Clitchy over Denilson.
It makes sense, that one, Most of the time our defensive fragilities have many a time started at the defensive midfield area. We have criticized, Song for going upfront and exposing the back four, We have criticized Arshavin for forgetting to fall back, Denilson has come in to criticism and thats just about everyone in the Midfield Defensive roles. Wilshere is learning the strings pretty fast but he is a better attacker than he defends in my view. We also have Ramsey knocking on the door and that can get Arsharvin more focused (Now that he has lost his battle for first team place with Walcott)
But of course defense starts with getting the goals you need to out score your opponent, then when you are under siege, being able to line up the first in line defense and then the back line. So may be these kinds of changes which will not upset the team balance so much are what the manager is looking at.
Personally I would vouch for these kinds of changes that add some steel in the side yet keeps everyone in the picture.
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Let wenger sell squilaci and bring in a reliable young defender. As alex comes in arshavin should be preparing to leave. Mr wenger, don’t let us down hurry and bring us alex and a young good defender.
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haha sleep manu. its funny coz of rooney
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Dalitso, thumbs up, good advice. I share your concern on the fragilility of our defence, but some how Arsene Wenger has a point, bringing in a permanent central defender will be a waste of resources and will erode confidence in already blossoming defence we currently have. Djourou and kosc have shown maturity in these trying times where TV5 and squilach are out, the defence is unbelievably delivering, why, only God knows. In this window finding a good defender is always difficult becoz teams are fighting to win trophies and others are fighting relagations with the very same players we will be needing. In this case temporary measures will be a nice remedy to beef up our defence otherwise we can lose funds by buying inflatable players. I can olny advise AW to seriously look into the possibility of roping in Sergio Ramos from madrid. Nice piece Dalitso kuphanga, you are indeed a true gunner.
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It isn’t that Arsenal need another centreback they need a world class top centrehalf along with a top class keeper to be complete. Who cares in Vermaelen, Djorou, Koscielny, Squillaci is fit. Vermaelen is a top centre half along with Djorou raising eyebrows and making progress. Koscielny needs more time and beginning to win me over. Squillaci should be replaced or released as she only be used sparingly as cover. Arsenal do need a top class centrehalf and the right player and only player to come in who is better than what we have in Mamadou Sakho!
Cahill is overatted and I think is no better than Koscielny techically. Samba is just big and no better than what we have. I see Wengers point ironically as he would only sign a player that is better or as good as what we have. He cannot sign the player as they either cannot be sold or cup tied etc.. We will have to make do and in the summer I only hope he gets it right and buys someone like Sakho who will turn into another vidic of the prem league.
And to all of you who say you cannot wish for more you can always improve the squad. Good post and love your opinion as by god you are entitled to it. I always get mixed reviews but I can tell you are ambitious and understand success like I do. Keep it up and love to wind up the narrowminded pretend gooners as they are Wenger lovers as apposed to arsenal fc fans!
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jack dont be so patrinising he makes a point
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WE LOVE YOU MALAWI!
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homie thts wass up
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I could not stop laughing the other week when Wenger said that he was strugging to find a defender that was as our current defence. Our defence in depleted without Vermaelen. Lets hope Koscielny continues to play well like he is and hopefully there will be no need for another centre back.
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Look at the statistics for this year.
We score 3 goals most of the games with our best 11 in the league and concede only 1.
And most of us gooners say our defense is fragile.
Please, our defense is doing just fine, no additional needed.
As I have said in an earlier post, this is our season and when end of May comes we will be celebrating.
Cheers..
NOTHING BUT ARSENAL
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i am not clear with why we fans so trusts Mr.wenger having been w out trophy for such a long time .i believe suspicion is some times good.
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Great to hear from Malawi. My father was born in Zomba, before coming to Australia in his teens. Best wishes to the Gunners in Malawi
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Yeah, I remember at the beginning of the season when people were whining for a goalkeeper. Now it’s a center back we need or our season is doomed?
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hmm
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hmm, i believe if we do not get a cb we will not win the league
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the reason y we are not call for keeper is ..we have new keeper wojo…if fabinski it will be same ..yes u are right we have planty of defender but no one is good enough….coward kocsenly, old slow squillaci, shaky DJ.wenger would be selling old squillaci at summer.
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Maybe Wenger uses his own money to buy players or else he wants to sign players from heaven.What else can one think?
The man will not just sign anybody. He fully knows that he doesn’t have a top class goalkeeper needed to win the champions league trophy where he will be competing with Europe’s best teams who have very experienced players, but he just doesn’t care. He wants to rely on fate to decide the day.
I agree with one writer of this column who said Wenger is a confusionist who needs some sort of treatment. Today he says he will sign a defender, a striker, a winger, a midfielder and come tomorrow he doesn’t need one. I was also hopeful that he would at least sign Chamberlain from Southampton who is such a good player but alas its the same story as usual. Now Sir Alex wants to snap up the young talent to Man United. The young lad is only 17 and signing him for 10 million pounds is a good investment considering his talent. Again Wenger will not sign. What a disappointment.
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I actually think wenger has it right. I can see TV5 and koscielny being a great partnership at the back. Djourou is good cover and squil is the experience that helps in training. I’ve seen people have put he’s too old but there were a lot of people moaning coz we didn’t have enough experienced players. Squil was never bought to be a starter. Although, I do think a better experienced player could have been found. (or not let go in w.gallas)
Szczesny has done very well coming in and fab did well before injury. They both needed almunia out to get regular game time. I think Szczesny could be loaned out to get more experience and we will end up having a great keeper.
I believe Bendy is too inconsistent at the moment and would benefit from going out on loan and starting regularly. We would then have chamakh and RVP with Walcott in the strikers role wenger always talks about having him in.
The only player I believe is not good enough for the gooners is Denilson. He offers no real cutting edge going forward and lacks the determination and work rate to be a good defensive mid.
Alex song has been one of our best players for the past couple of seasons imo.
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Listen u arsenal fans stop complaining stop yor negative thinking pls! Look at most of gunners fans worldwide thy ar full of fears u cn evn see th crowd at Emirates stdium thy dnt rly fight together wth the boys! So my point is 20% we lack a central back an 80% we lack faith! Cmon ARSENAL put th complainers to SHAME!!!
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We need to buy a quality player in every department,but it seems Wenger is so much concerned about the future than current results, by buying many young players some who lack experience. Fans want results NOW not tomorrow! In Malawi one supporter killed himself after Arsenal lost 2-4 to Barcelona in the last champions league return match.When Arsenal lose I also don’t eat that day,my whole weekend is spoiled. That’s the passion fans have for the team. Our players also have a casual mentality most of the times & don’t want to die for the game. We could have been leading the premier league by now should we have been consistent in our game approach.Please Mr. Wenger hear our views first then make your own decisions later.
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My fears are now becoming a reality…we just lost an ‘easy’ opportunity to get a cup…. I dont have the strength to soldier on. it pathetic we have said time and again we need a CB and Goalkeeper!
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